Handwriting remains an important and useful skill and manual writing instruments remain important tools. Most writing instruments include an elongated tube containing a writing medium, such as ink or pencil lead, or highlighting medium, such as yellow, green and pink highlighters or the likes, and having an end at which the writing or highlighting medium is exposed for contact with the writing surface, such as paper. The elongated tube section of the writing instrument, which is grasped and held by the user when writing, is characterized typically by a smooth, exterior surface. The smooth surface may be attractive and pleasant to the touch, but it can be become slippery during use resulting in writer discomfort and impaired legibility of the handwritten text produced.
Devices are known in the prior art to assist a user in manually gripping a writing instrument. U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,598 to Schwartz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,083 to Chesar, U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,347 to Hoyle, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,800 to Lin et al. illustrate pen or pencil attachment devices which may be attached to the writing instrument in an attempt to reduce writer discomfort, cramp and fatigue. These writing aids are typically structures designed to fit over the exterior of a writing instrument. These independent structures which are slid onto the exterior of the instrument tend to be bulky and thick, and create a non-uniform surface constraining the user to hold the writing instrument in a fixed position.
Other structures have contoured grip surfaces constituting complex molded surfaces aimed at approximating the anatomical contours of a writer's fingertips during grasping of the writing instrument. However, the grip surfaces are not able to match the differing anatomical shapes and pen grasping techniques of different individuals.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,152 to Chuang discloses a writing instrument having a gripping segment on a section of the pen, which screws onto a portion of a main body of the writing instrument. The gripping segment comprises a number of annular slip-preventing grooves axially disposed on its outer peripheral surface to help retain the instrument to the material or surface it is clipped to. It is not concerned with providing comfort and ease to the user of the instrument when writing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,599 to McCall et al. discloses a writing instrument having a deformable gripping portion, which deforms in response to manual pressure during manual grasping of the instrument to permit reshaping of the gripping portion from an initial shape to a custom fit shape generally conforming to the writer's fingertips. The gripping portion retains the custom fit shape for a short period after release and returns substantially to its initial shape. During operation, the gripping portion requires pressure to be applied at the onset to conform the gripping portion to the shape desired by the user.
Thus, there remains a need to provide a gripping surface for a writing instrument which is consistent and uniform with the surface of the writing instrument, is comfortable and easy to use, provides a firm grip and does not require excessive pressure to conform the shape desired by the user.